Manhunt underway for Texas DA’s killer

District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were found shot to death in their home Saturday, just two months after the county’s assistant DA, Mark Hasse, was gunned down outside the courthouse. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports.

Crime and courts

This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>>there is fear and anger in
kaufman county
,
texas
, after the murder of a district attorney and his wife over the weekend. mike mclelland is the second prosecutor in the area killed in as many months. this comes in the wake of the murder of colorado's prison chief last month. investigators say they are examining any and all leads. gabe gutierrez is with us from
kaufman countytexas
, tonight. gabe, good evening.

>> reporter: brian, good evening. according to a search warrant released this afternoon, police are looking at several things including -- and they say that the d.a. and his wife were shot multiple times. they are now subpoenaing cell phone records looking for clues. so far there is no evidence to definitively link any of the murders. today under the watchful eye of armed guards employees reported for work.

>>definitely concerned.

>> reporter: that concern comes as a manhunt is under way for a killer. district attorney mike mclelland and his wife sincynthia were found shot to death in their home saturday in what local officials call a brazen, targeted attack. federal authorities tell
nbc
news they are analyzing two
.22 calibershell casings
found in the house.

>>we are very much on alert. we have folks out to do harm to
elected officials
. so we take it very seriously.

>> reporter: two months ago the county's assistant d.a. was gunned down outside the courthouse. at the time mclelland had this promise for the killer of mark hasse.

>>we are very confident that we are going to find you. we are going to pull you out of whatever hole you're in. we are going to bring you back and let the people prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.

>> reporter: mclelland told friends he carried a gun everywhere and was extra careful when answering his door. investigators have been working to see if hass e's shooting was connected to the killing of colorado's prison chief last month. the suspect in that case who later died in a police shootout in
north texas
was linked to a white supremacist group. months before,
texas
investigators issued a warning about the
aryan brotherhood
of
texas
planning retaliation against public officials. although federal sources tell
nbc
news they have yet to find a solid connection between the murders. in the meantime,
texas governorrick perry
is urging caution.

>>i suggest everyone should be careful about what goes on whether they are public officials or otherwise.

>> reporter: and this small county outside dallas is in mourning and on edge. meanwhile,
federal law
enforcement officials tell
nbc
news they are not ruling out anything from the white supremacist group to a
drug cartel
to a
lone gunman
with a grudge. meanwhile a new interim d.a. took over the office this afternoon. brian?